London is a popular location for the production of TV and Films (apparently the third largest centre for film production in the world) with it’s many iconic locations including the various waterways that have featured on screen over the decades.
Towards the end of 2022 the River Thames and the Dock areas of East London have once again become the focus of attention with the Royal Docks being both a logistics base and a filming location. The production is said to be an action-comedy called ‘Back in Action’ being produced for Netflix.
Some of the vessels heading to Royal Victoria Dock
It is interesting to note that this production may be one of the last to feature the Rank Hovis Mill in Royal Victoria Dock (which is accidental as it should have been demolished before filming took place but that demolition is running behind schedule!) but many of the new places being created will certainly be of equal interest to production crews as demonstrated with the Royal Albert Dock ABP ghost town that has featured in numerous shoots already.
Some of the action takes place on the water and at night with a pair of very smart boats appearing to be the focus of the action. Built by Cornish boatbuilders Cockwells the pair are a yacht tender called GRACE and Duchy Sport motor launch called ROCK ANGEL – the pair having arrived in London by road.
GRACEROCK ANGEL being craned in to the waterCockwell’s GRACE followed by ROCK ANGEL
Once again Livett’s are providing a range of their vessels to support the filming works alongside a large-scale collaboration with a number of London based Thames operators.
The following table lists the operators and their vessels that have been identified supporting this filming project.
It is possible that other vessels were used both within the Docks and also on the River Thames but only confirmed sightings are included in the above table.
A few close-up shots of the hoists being used to hold the lighting rigs in support of the filming.
Portable generatorsHoists being loaded on to bargesRigging a lighting gantryBarge with generators and hoistsBarge with two lighting rigs
The KGV Lock has long been used as a location for loading and unloading equipment and plant from barges and pontoons due to the fact it is a non-tidal protected area of water that make such operations safer and easier to undertake.
KGV Lock with working areas
There is a question mark hanging over the future of this facility though as the future development plans for the area show new buildings much closer to the dock edge and less convenient road access routes – something that seems to go against the London Plan and the protection of the Blue Ribbon network!!
Anyway, back to the present and a recent where one large crane was taken off a pontoon and a slightly smaller was loaded in it’s place.
The pontoon was provided by the Livett’s Group and Thamescraft Dry Docking provided the Emilia D and the Dalby Venture to keep the pontoon in place and the latter also had a supply of wooden beams used to help the cranes drive off and on the pontoon.
Operations such as this one are good examples of #STEM in action with plenty of physics and mechanics involved when it comes to moving heavy items of plant off and on a floating pontoon whilst keeping everything safe and secure!
Both of the cranes were Liebherr mobile cranes, with a LR 1110 Crawler crane operated by Hawks Crane Hire being unloaded first.
Then a LTR 1100 operated by Sarens took its place.
The following fast-motion video shows the action with the first crane also assisting with the moving of the boards to assist the loading of the second crane.
…. and that is boats made out of concrete rather than boats that carry concrete!!
Using concrete might not seem the best of materials to use to build a boat but has happened for nearly 200 albeit in relatively small numbers as whilst fairly inexpensive to build they are less efficient. More information about the history of these craft can be seen here.
Over the course of the last few months a pair of concrete “buildings” had appeared on Albert Island next to the KGV Dock leading to many different theories about what they were – it turns out that these are actually a pair of barges made out of reinforced concrete being constructed on behalf of the Canary Wharf Group.
Not for the first time that the Royal Docks has been the location for the building oF concrete barges – those were Phoenix breakwaters and were destined to play a pivotal role as part of the D-Day landings – the new ones will play an important role but perhaps less of an historical one – but time will tell!!
In comparison to the blocks created for wartime use the modern ones are of a much smaller scale but still impressive to see.
Interestingly the Royal Docks is home to another concrete boat – the Good Hotel is built on a concrete hull and the use of a concrete hull as a base is the plan of these two new constructions – they will be used as the basis for two inter-connected floating restaurants at Wood Wharf in West India Dock – part of the Canary Wharf development.
Part of the challenge of the current project is that the barges are on the dockside of Albert Island but that isn’t where they will be eventually used – as a result you need a lot of specialist people and equipment which includes a very large barge to be able move the two new hulls and the equipment to get them from the shore to the barge.
The transported barge was provided by Tronds Marine Service AS in the shape of TRONDS BARGE 28 which came from Norway and was brought in to the Royal Docks by Thamescraft Dry Docking Services and then positioned alongside Albert Island.
A video of the barge being brought in to the KGV Lock can be seen below and some more pictures of the arrival can be seen here.
The second phase of the operation was to move the concrete hulls, each weighing 1050 tonnes, on to the barge and specialist heavy move company Mammoet were given the task and deployed four Self-Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT).
The whole process took several hours as the move had to be done in stages to make sure the ballast levels of the barge were changed as the weight of the load increased – lots of careful calculations and lots of measurements to make sure the barge stayed the correct way up!!
With so much weight on the barge it is important to make sure the load is in the correct place so losts of measuringSometimes the low-tech solution of a water bottle on the end ot the tape just works….. used to measure the water ballast depth to keep the barge level as the weight of the load shifted
A video compilation of photographs can be seen below:
The following time-lapse video shows one of the concrete hulls being moved on to the transporter barge.
Update on 26th May 2020
The floating transporter barge with the two concrete hulls mounted on it was moved back to the KGV Lock and the next stage of the operation was to float off the two hulls – this required the transporter barge to be flooded with water so that the hulls would float and then they were towed back to the King George V Dock for fitting out.
The operation was planned around the time of the low tide so that the transporter barge could be ballasted down to rest on the bed of the lock to provide a stable platform.
Then the water was slowly fed in to the lock to float off the concrete boxes whilst the barge remained on the lock floor.
After some time the water level in the lock was back up to the level of the dock and the two concrete hulls were free floating.
Then it was time for the DALBY VENTURE to come forward and connect to each block in turn to tow them back in to the KGV Dock where they will continue the fitting out process.
The following time-lapse video shows the transporter barge being flooded, the new hulls floating off and then being towed away.
Update 30th May2020
The transporter barge has now left the Royal Docks following the arrival of EMS TUG to take the barge across the North Sea for it’s next job.
Update Mid August 2020 – steel frames completed and wall and window panels starting to be installed.
Update end September 2020 – work on wall and window panels continues and block being turned in dock to make dock edge access easier.
Update November 2020 – work to fit glazing moving ahead.
Update mid March 2021 – works on the main structure appear to be mostly complete and fitting out taking place.
Update mid April 2021 – the two units are now ready to be moved to Canary Wharf for integration with the Wood Wharf project. Thamescraft tugs DEVOUT and EMILIA D return to the Docks to move the blocks up the Thames to West India Dock.
The following video shows the Tugs moving off along the Thames on their way to Canary Wharf.
Update 14th December 2021
The two units are now in place alongside the Wood Wharf development with one being operational and final fitting out works taking place.
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